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"A continual delight, with its unexpected conceits and original inventions. And if Mr. Pratchett's tongue is frequently in his cheek, his parody of the science fiction idiom is always deft, knowledgeable and good humoured." -- "Oxford Times"
Book Description
A stand alone comic fantasy novel by the author of the Discworld series.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Before the success of the Discoworld novels, Terry Pratchett tried his hands at a couple of science fiction novels. His first, 1976's The Darks Side of the Sun, deals with the oft-tackled idea of a creator race, one (here called the Jokers) which shaped the universe and its inhabitants but have since disappeared.
The novel serves as a travelogue through Pratchett's future universe, and with its cast of well-developed aliens and locations this is a rich journey. Probability maths, quantum physics and evolution are dealt with in a light and readable manner with a small but well drawn cast. The novel isn't laugh out loud funny, but there are elements of Pratchett's trademark humour.
A short but successful piece of sf universe building, recommended even for those who may not enjoy the authors comedic fantasy output. After re-reading this the real mystery is not the whereabouts of the Jokers, but why with his prolific and relentless Discworld output Terry Pratchett has never found either the time or the inclination to produce another science fiction novel - on the evidence of this he certainly has the talent.
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What do you get when you combine Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dune, and the Foundation trilogy? The answer is an interesting book by Terry Pratchett, entitled The Dark Side of the Sun. It was written in 1976, long before the first Discworld novels. On occasion it is evident that this was an early effort by Pratchett - it's not as funny or thoughtful as any of his later works, and it's very brief and hurried in places. But there's a lot of interesting ideas and concepts, show-casing the inventive mind of Pratchett in his early days. There are a number of ideas here (mostly just names) that will later turn up in the Discworld novels (for example, Hogswatchnight, Small Gods, etc.).
The story is about Dom Salabos, a member of the wealthy Salabos family in charge of the world of Widdershins. Dom should have the perfect life, but there is one problem: he keeps getting assassinated all the time. The story revolves around the concept of probability math, with Dom setting off on a quest to find the mysterious Jokers World, accompanied by his robot Isaac and his alien mentor Hrsh-Hgn. One thing to note is that there is no heroine or "love interest" in this book, refreshingly enough. However, just before the ending, it's as if Pratchett has noticed this short-coming, and a "female lead" type of character is introduced. The ensuing scenes jars violently with the preceding story, both in style and content, and it's as if you suddenly find yourself reading an entirely different story. The ending itself is very abrupt and hurried, and not very satisfying.
This book does show that Pratchett could be one of the sci-fi greats if he wanted to. However, much more could have been made with the universe and the ideas Pratchett developed in Dark Side, and it's to be hoped that he will return to the realm of sci-fi some day. Recommended for fans of Pratchett (and of sci-fi in general).
The story is about Dom Salabos, a member of the wealthy Salabos family in charge of the world of Widdershins. Dom should have the perfect life, but there is one problem: he keeps getting assassinated all the time. The story revolves around the concept of probability math, with Dom setting off on a quest to find the mysterious Jokers World, accompanied by his robot Isaac and his alien mentor Hrsh-Hgn. One thing to note is that there is no heroine or "love interest" in this book, refreshingly enough. However, just before the ending, it's as if Pratchett has noticed this short-coming, and a "female lead" type of character is introduced. The ensuing scenes jars violently with the preceding story, both in style and content, and it's as if you suddenly find yourself reading an entirely different story. The ending itself is very abrupt and hurried, and not very satisfying.
This book does show that Pratchett could be one of the sci-fi greats if he wanted to. However, much more could have been made with the universe and the ideas Pratchett developed in Dark Side, and it's to be hoped that he will return to the realm of sci-fi some day. Recommended for fans of Pratchett (and of sci-fi in general).
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This Terry Pratchet novel is a hilarious, coming-of-age romp through a funky and furiously original galaxy populated by 52 intelligent races and beings with endearing quirks. Some of these beings are luckier than others and our hero, Dom Savalos, is one of them. On the eve of his ascension to the chairmanship of his planet, he finds out about something that has preoccupied some of he best minds around - the science of probability maths, which predicts both likely and seemingly inevitable outcomes of individual lives. Dom find himself in the position of being predestined to find the world on which the enigmatic jokers reside - a prehistoric, highly evolved race thought by many to be responsible for most of the other intelligent life in the galaxy. But the story only starts here...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I enjoyed it, but was mostly confused
in the same way that Dune confused me.
At only 158 pages you are launched without much background into a fully formed universe of races and terminology that you are not... Read more
At only 158 pages you are launched without much background into a fully formed universe of races and terminology that you are not... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Halo572
The problem with satire
...Is that your reader needs to know what you are satirising. If you have never read Adams, Le Guin, Asimov, Niven, Van Vogt or Delaney, then a great deal of this book will strike... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Behan
Only buy it if you want to complete a collection
This is not a very good book. It is good compared with freebies or 70p cheapies - but the price is commensurate with a really good book. Read more
Published 14 months ago by banana_the_poet
Completely Confusing
I had read Terry Pratchett's 'Johnny' series having found them while teaching English and decided to start reading the Discworld books. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Archie
Off the wall (or the planet?)
I love Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, his humour, imagination and spiritual perceptiveness are a delight.... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Ellie
approach without prejudice
I read this shortly after it was published, and of course no-one had heard of Pratchett. Discworld existed only as a twinkle deep in the undug mines of the author's subconscious... Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2010 by Ivan Bradley
Early Pratchett
Dark Side of the Sun is an early Pratchett book ( circa 1976) predating the Discworld series.
The inheritor of a family company survives assassination attempts in his efforts... Read more
The inheritor of a family company survives assassination attempts in his efforts... Read more
Published on 1 Oct 2009 by Dr. I. Cox
Excellent SF novel from Terry Pratchett
This is a wonderful novel. Written in 1976, it was one of Mr Pratchett's first novels to be published, before he wrote the first Discworld book. Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2009 by Archie
Terry Pratchett - The Dark Side of the Sun
The Dark Side of the Sun
Not a Discworld series book but very much cast in the same mould and it took me a while to stop expecting Nanny Ogg or Esme Weatherwax to pop... Read more
Not a Discworld series book but very much cast in the same mould and it took me a while to stop expecting Nanny Ogg or Esme Weatherwax to pop... Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2009 by Dawn Litchfield-Lloyd
Agony
Reading this really was agonising.
I am a huge fan of Terry Pratchett, and all of his work, but reading this simply did not agree with me at all. Read more
I am a huge fan of Terry Pratchett, and all of his work, but reading this simply did not agree with me at all. Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2007 by Mr. M. J. Archer
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